B.I.B.L.E.

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
[Psalm 119:105]


Bible, the English form of the Greek name Biblia, meaning "books". But to me it has more meaning than that. To me B.I.B.L.E. means Basic Instructions Before Life Eternal. To me the B.I.B.L.E. is the living word of God! Here to teach us valuable lessons in life, to help us avoid unneeded stress and pain.

"It may surprise you to hear that the Bible has a deeper meaning in the words it uses and the stories it tells. This deeper meaning does not predict the future by some mysterious code; it is about you as you are on the inside. Once you see this, the Bible becomes an extraordinary tool for personal discovery, something very different from the Bible you may have struggled with and given up on. Learning about this deeper and more spiritual meaning may reawaken your interest. If you have never been interested in God or religion, or feel turned off by them, you may appreciate a chance to look again in the light of this new way of seeing the Bible.

Here is a simple example for you. Many battles are mentioned in the Bible. We have battles inside us, conflicts between our selfishness and our desire to love other people. The Bible says that the people always won their battles when they obeyed God. 'God' means the highest truth we can know. When we choose to go with this truth instead of our ego, we will always win our battle. The strategies for success are there in the details of each Biblical battle plan.

People who study dreams tell us that everything in the dream is about something inside us. If you dream about your dog, it is not really your dog but something dog-like; devotion perhaps. The Bible works in the same way. Whenever it mentions a tree, it is talking about a noble idea that is growing in your mind, deeply rooted, reaching higher, branching, and bearing fruit. Little wonder that the Garden of Eden, the symbolic first "place", had the Tree of Life at its centre. This is a graphic picture of the human mind, of consciousness, as it is meant to be.

Every single thing in the Bible has its own rich symbolic meaning, which helps us to understand our spiritual life. 'Mountains' stand for higher levels of awareness. 'Wells of water' describe our capacity to draw up or draw on true ideas from deep in our mind, to have access to truth that refreshes and cleanses us, as water does. Coins, those small bright shiny objects that are valuable and can be invested, stand for insights in our mind that can be put to good use, and earn interest because they have real worth.

Notice how the deeper meaning is always related to the qualities or use of the object. This is the link between physical and spiritual levels, between things 'out-there' and 'in-here'. Once you see this, you can explore the symbolism yourself. Try this one: the Bible often mentions pearls, and finding the pearl of great price. Think of the many qualities of pearls, including how they are formed. Ask yourself, what is it within me that is like a pearl? How did it form? What gives it its value?

A good technique is to read a verse in the Bible and after every noun add the words in me". So for example you may have 'the king-in-me', 'the rock-in-me', 'the poverty-in-me', and yes, even 'the God-in-me'. This method may seem strange at first but it will help you to see that, for example, there is something king-like in you, some ruling principle which guides your thinking: hopefully it is a good king and not a tyrant."

by Julian Duckworth (http://www.theisticscience.org/religion/bible.html)